OMAHA, Nebraska – Omaha softball will play its first game on Nebraska soil this week, but it won't be at the friendly confines of Westside Field at Westbrook. The Mavericks visit No. 23 Nebraska at Bowlin Field in Lincoln on Wednesday evening with first pitch set for 5 p.m. The game will be shown live on BTN Plus and links to live stats can be found at OMavs.com.
The 2016 Mavericks
Omaha is 11-15 on the season after going 5- 2 last week. The Mavericks opened the week with a double header sweep at Northern Colorado and finished the week by going 3-2 at the Jayhawk Invitational in Lawrence. The Mavericks defeated Missouri State twice and UMKC, but fell to Northern Iowa and Kansas.
This season, senior Sydney Hames leads the team at the plate with a .381 batting average, six home runs, and 20 RBI. Junior Nicole Warren is hitting .287 this season and leads the Summit League with eight home runs and 26 RBI. Freshman Kourtney Pock is second on the team with a .310 average. Pock has one home run and nine RBI this season. She was named Summit League Player of the Week and the College Sports Madness Summit League Player of the Week for her performance last week. Senior Campbell Ditto is hitting .300 with three homers and eight RBI.
Freshman Laura Roecker is 6-6 on the season in 15 starts. Roecker has a 5.16 ERA with 39 strikeouts and 50 walks. She leads the league in shut outs and is second in wins. The freshman has gone the distance six times and turned out three shutouts. Earlier this week, she was named Summit League Pitcher of the Week for her performance this past weekend. Abbie Clanton leads the team with 19 appearances (five starts). Clanton is 4-6 on the season with a 6.02 ERA and 28 strikeouts, including firing a no-hitter at Northern Colorado on March 8. Lizzie Noble is 1-3 this season in 10 appearances.
The Mavericks are led by 17th year head coach Jeanne Scarpello. Scarpello is the program's winningest coach with a career mark of 665-247-1. Coach Scarpello led UNO to the 2001 NCAA Division II National Title and was part of the NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year. During the Division II era, she was a two-time MIAA Coach of the Year (2010, 2011) and a four-time NCC Coach of the Year (2001, 2004, 2006, 2008). Her teams made 12 straight NCAA DII Tournament appearances (2000-2011) while earning eight conference regular-season championships and five conference tournament championships. Coach Scarpello picked up her 500th career win on Feb. 20, 2011 against Texas A&M International.
Nebraska
Series Record: Nebraska leads 17-16; since the transition to Division I, Omaha is 1-7 against Nebraska.
Last Meeting: April 15, 2015 – Omaha dropped an 8-5 decision at home in eight innings.
Scouting the Cornhuskers: No. 23 Nebraska is 15-6 against a schedule that has included 11 games against 2015 NCAA Tournament teams, six contests against ranked opponents and five games against top-10 teams. The Huskers went 3-2 last weekend at the Louisville Slugger Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. The Cornhuskers defeated No. 9 James Madison, Ohio State and Georgetown, but lost to No. 21 Arizona State and James Madison.
The long ball has been a big part of the Nebraska offense this season. NU has 30 homers in its first 21 games. MJ Knighten leads the team with a .435 batting average and is tops on the team with 12 homers and 29 RBI. Kiki Stokes is hitting .403 for the Huskers and leads the team with 10 stolen bases.
The Huskers have a team earned run average of 3.32. Emily Lockman leads the Cornhuskers with 10 starts and has a 5-2 record with a 2.87 ERA. Cassie McClure leads the team in appearances (16), ERA (2.51), wins (8), and saves (3). Kaylan Jablonski is 2-2 with a 4.54 ERA this season.
Rhonda Revelle enters her 24th season leading the Cornhuskers program. Last season, Nebraska finished with a 35-23 overall record and was 17-6 in the Big Ten Conference. For her career, Revelle is 901-486.
Up Next
Next weekend, Omaha travels to Missoula, Mont. for the Griz Classic on March 19 and 20. Omaha will take on Nevada at noon (CT) on Saturday, followed by playing host Montana at 2:15 p.m. (CT). On Sunday the Mavs will have rematches against Nevada and Montana on Sunday, playing the Wolfpack at 11:30 a.m. (CT), followed by the Grizzlies at 4 p.m. (CT).
